Leif Haraldseth (30 November 1929 – 8 April 2019) was a Norwegian trade unionist and politician for the Labour Party.

Early life

Leif Haraldseth was born in

Drammen Drammen () is a city and municipality in Buskerud county, Norway. The port and river city of Drammen is centrally located in the south-eastern and most populated part of Norway. Drammen municipality also includes smaller towns and villages such ...

as a son of worker Hans Haraldseth (1905–1977) and housewife Ingrid (1907–1999). He finished

secondary education Secondary education is the education level following primary education and preceding tertiary education. Level 2 or ''lower secondary education'' (less commonly ''junior secondary education'') is considered the second and final phase of basic e ...

in 1947, was a delivery boy in the

Norwegian State Railways Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *Norwegian language, including the two ...

for two years, then attended the Railway School and worked as a telegrapher in the State Railways from 1951 til 1965.

Trade unionism and politics

In 1965 he was hired as district secretary of the

Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions The Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (, LO) is a national trade union center, decidedly the largest and probably the most influential umbrella organization of labour unions in Norway. The 21 national unions affiliated to the LO have almo ...

Buskerud Buskerud () is a Counties of Norway, county and a current electoral district in Norway, bordering Akershus, Oslo, Innlandet, Vestland, Telemark and Vestfold. The region extends from the Oslofjord and Drammensfjorden in the southeast to Hardanger ...

. In 1969 he was promoted to secretary and in 1977 to vice chairman of the organization. On both occasions he replaced

Odd Højdahl Odd Højdahl (5 January 1921 – 23 February 1994) was a Norway, Norwegian trade unionist and politician for the Norwegian Labour Party, Labour Party. He was born in Oslo. In 1971–1972 he was the Minister of Social Affairs (Norway), Mi ...

. From 1986 to 1987 he was the Minister of Local Government in

Brundtland's Second Cabinet Brundtland's Second Cabinet was a minority, Labour Government of Norway. It succeeded the Conservative Willoch's Second Cabinet, and sat between 9 May 1986 and 16 October 1989. It was replaced by the Conservative/Centre/Christian Democrat cabin ...

. He then headed the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions from 1987 to 1989. At the same time he was a central board member of the Labour Party. In international labour affairs he was a delegation member to the

International Labour Organization The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a United Nations agency whose mandate is to advance social and economic justice by setting international labour standards. Founded in October 1919 under the League of Nations, it is one of the firs ...

from 1970 to 1979, board member of the Norwegian ILO Committee from 1983 to 1986, and from 1985 to 1989 a board member of the

Council of Nordic Trade Unions The Council of Nordic Trade Unions (NFS) is a regional trade union federation. It represents 9 million members from 16 national trade unions in the Nordic countries of Europe. It was founded in 1972, and has close ties with the Baltic Sea Trade Un ...

and vice president of the

European Trade Union Confederation The European Trade Union Confederation (ETUC) is the major trade union organisation representing workers at the European level. In its role as a European social partner, the ETUC works both in a consulting role with the European Commission and ...

. He chaired the Norwegian Support Committee for Spain from 1977 to 1984 and the International Solidarity Committee of the Norwegian Labour Movement from 1985 to 1989. His career in politics ended with the post of County Governor of Buskerud, which he held from 1989 to 1999. Haraldseth was a board member of Buskerud Industriselskap (1966–1970), the

National Institute of Technology The National Institutes of Technology (NITs) are Centrally Funded Technical Institutes, centrally funded technical institutes under the ownership of the Ministry of Education (India), Ministry of Education, Government of India. They are gover ...

(1973–1977),

Sydvaranger Sydvaranger AS (previously ''A/S Sydvaranger'') is an iron ore mining company in Sør-Varanger Municipality, Norway. The mining operations have not restarted (as of Q1 2025). With an open-pit mine in Bjørnevatn, it has traditionally hauled the o ...

(1973–1978), Folk og forsvar (1973–1979, deputy chair), Feriefondet (1973–1986), the National Wages Board (1977–1986), the

Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation The Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (Norad) is a directorate under the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. It is primarily concerned with offering development aid to international partners, but in matters regarding Norway's Inter ...

(1977–1980), the Industry Fund (1978–1982), the Norwegian Directorate of Labour (1979–1980), the

Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority The Norwegian Labour Inspection Authority () is a Norwegian government agency under the Ministry of Labour. It is responsible for supervising the implementation of the Working Environment Act, the Annual Holidays Act, the National Holidays Act, ...

(1980–1984), the Norwegian Guarantee Institute for Export Credits (1981–1986), Samvirke (1985–1989),

Fafo Foundation The Fafo Research Foundation, also known as the Fafo Foundation or just Fafo (), is a Norway, Norwegian research foundation and owner of the research institute: The ''Fafo Institute for Labour and Social Research.'' The institute conducts social ...

(1987–1989, chair) and

Norsk Hydro Norsk Hydro ASA (often referred to as just ''Hydro'') is a Norway, Norwegian aluminium and renewable energy company, headquartered in Oslo. It is one of the largest aluminium companies worldwide. It has operations in some 50 countries around th ...

(1988–1998). He was a council member of Norsk Produktivitetsinstitutt (1980–1981) and the Labour Court of Norway (1988–1989), and chaired the supervisory council of Landsbanken (1985–1989).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Haraldseth, Leif 1929 births 2019 deaths Politicians from Drammen Ministers of local government and modernisation of Norway Labour Party (Norway) politicians Norwegian trade unionists